Towel cabinet



. 1,514,400 F. M. STEINERk n TOWEL CABINET y Original FiledKJuly r17.19720 n 2 Shoots-Sheet 1 y gf Z NOVA, 1924. 1,514,400

F. M. STEINER TOWEL CABINET Original Filed July 17. 1920 2 giants-'Sheet2 /M/f/VTOQ. feA/vffMjrf//Vfe jMmzpM Patented Nov. 4, '1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. STEINER, QF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,` ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO STEINER SALES COMPANY. OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION0F UTAH.

y Application led July 17, 1920, Serial To all :whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M.. STE1N1-11 a citizen of the United States,resident of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, State of Minne-Sota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel Cabinets, of whichthe following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a cabinet of simple, economicalconstruction which will dispense entirely with the use of rollers andgears or similar devices usually found in towel cabinets, and whichmaterially add to the first cost and maintenance of adevice of thiskind.

A further object is to provide a cabinet which requires no adjustment ofparts, being ofI such simple construction that the ordinary laundrvdelivery boy or janitor can make no mistake in placing the roll oftoweling in the cabinet ready for use.

A further object is to provide a cabinet adapted to receive a roll oftoweling as it comes from theironingmachine, without the necessity ofhand labor in arranging or adjusting it to fit the cabinet.

The invention consists generally in various constructions andcombinations. all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, p

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a towel cabinet embodying myinventionon section line 1-1 of Figure 2,

Figure 2 is a front view of thc cabinet, showing the door closed, e

Figure 3 is a` detail sectional view, showing a Inodiiied construction,the towel being folded and placed in the container instead of rolled, l

Figure 4c is a sectional View of a modified construction, on the line4.4 of Figure 5,

Figure 5' is a front view of the modified cabinet.

In the drawing, 2 represents the casing of the cabinet, made of anysuitable material, wood or metal is preferred, and having flanged edges3 for securing the casing to an upright wall, or other support. Thiscasing is closed at the top and is open in the rear. The towel containercomprises a front wall 5 which forms the door of the cabinet, the lowerwall or bottom 6, side walls 7 and a` rear upright wall 8, the topi ofthe container being open and preferably inclined TOWEL CABINET.

No. 397,070. Renewed June 25, 1924.

from the front to the rear. The container 1s hinged at 9 to the lowerforward walls of the casing and is adapted to tilt on Vits Walls of thecasing for limiting the inward movement of the containerand the forwardwall 5 of the container contacts with aange 11 at the top of the casingand is held in place by means of a locking device 12.

lVhen this locking device is turned, the c0ntainer may be tilted toitsopen position and when so tilted will expose the interior of` thecontainer for the convenient linsertion of the towel roll. The rear wall8 has a rolled upper edge 13 over which the end of the towel 14 iscarried and allowed to hang down between this rear wall 8 and the wallof the support, suflicient` space being pro-v vided for thispurpose.When this depending end is grasped and pulled, the roll will be unwoundand the towel will slide from the wall 8 until the user obtains thedesired length. i After use, the-free end is allowed to fallv into areceptacle 15 beneath, wherein the soiled towel is collected prior toits return to the laundry.

In Figure 3 I have shown a modified construction which consists inplacing the towel in folded form in the container instead of rolling it,the loops of the towel being withdrawn asthe user pulls on the -frecend.v IV ith this arrangement, however, I prefer to provide a tensiondevice 16 consisting preferably o-f a flat spring secured to the top ofthe cabinet and bearing upon the towel at the point where it passes overthe rear wall 8 of the container. This spring bears with suflicientpressure on the towel to pre-y vent it from slipping and feeding itselfout of the container down into the receptacle 15 beneath.

Where the towel is rolled, as shown in Figure 1, the resistance to theunwinding of the roll is sufficient to prevent a premature feed of thetowel, but when the towel is folded back and forth, there is notsuicient resist-ance to counteract the weight of pull of the loose endofthe towel that depends in the rear of the container.

A cabinet made in this way eliminates all rollers and gears and variousdevices incirdental to the support of the towel in the cabinet or thefeeding thereof and at the same time insures convenient delivery to theuser.

In Figure L I have shown a modified construction which consists indispensing with the casing of the cabinet and mounting a pair ofbrackets 17 on the wall or other support and providing. a box orcontainer 18 having pivots at 19 on the bracket and normally held in ahorizontal position by lugs or stops 2O on the brackets. A hinged cover2l is provided, normally closing the' top of the container andprotecting the towel therein from dust and dirt. A gap 22 is providedbetween the cover'21 and the rear wall 23 of the container and throughthis gap the loose or free end of the towel is fed, and the rear wall 23is a sufficient distance from theupright Asupport so that when the usergrasps the towel he can easily draw it down between the container andthe support until the desired length is reached. vThe soiled portionthen drops into the receptacle beneath, corresponding to the onedescribed with reference to the previous figures.

The front wall of the container yhas a handle 24 and when the janitor ordelivery boy desires to put a towel in the container itis swung forwardon its pivots and the cover. raised and the roll or bundle of towelinginserted. Instead of having the gap 22 between the cover 21 and the rearwall, the top of the container may be made solid with a slot `throughwhich the free endof the towel is inserted and in this case the frontwall may be hinged to allow access to the container and the insertion ofthe clean roll or bundle of toweling.

I claim as my invention:

l. A towel cabinet comprising a'casing and means for supporting it onthe wall, a container hinged at its lower forward portion in said casingand having a chamber therein adapted to receive a roll of toweling, saidroll resting lby gravity upon the bottom of said container and havingfredom of movement forward and backward therein to allow the convenientunwinding of the towel, said container having an upwardly projectingrear wall over which the loose end of the towel is arranged to dependand slide, said Wall being spaced from the support of said casing toprovide an opening for the feed of the towel, the friction of the rollon the bottom and walls of the container retarding the unwinding of theroll, and checking undue feed thereof.

2. A towel cabinet comprising a casing and means for supporting it onthe wall, a clean towel container comprising avbottom and front and rearwalls, the front wall of said container forming the door of the cabinetand the bottom of said container having a horizontal pivotal connectionwith said casing beneath and near said front wall, the rear wall of saidcontainer being spaced from said support and having an upper edge overwhich the loose end of the towel is adapt-ed to slide, the roll of cleantoweling resting on the bottom of said container and unwinding as a pullis applied to said loose end, the friction of said roll on the bottomand walls of the container retarding the unwinding of the roll andchecking unnecessary feed thereof.

3. A towel holder comprising a support, al towel container hinged at itslower forward portion to said support and adapted to tilt outwardly toexpose the container, a space being provided in the rear of saidcontainerto allow the feed of the towel, the loose end of the towelpassing over the rear wall of said container and sliding thereon.

4. A towel cabinet comprising a casing, a container hinged at its lowerforward walls thereto, said container having a closed bottom and frontand rear walls, and an open top, said front wall forming the door of thecabinet and provided with a locking means, the loose end ofthe towelbeing fed over the rear wall of the container and sliding thereon anddepending below said container.

5. A support and a towel container having its lower forward portionhinged thereto, said container having a bottom and walls and a chamberadapted to receive a bolt of toweling, said bolt resting by gravity uponsaid bottom, and having freedom of movement therein to allow theconvenient unwinding of the towel, said container also having a feedopening, and a space in the rear of said container wherein the towel web`depends and is downwardly fed bythe pull of the user thereon, thefriction of the towel bolt on the bottom and walls of the containerretarding the unwinding thereof and checking undue feed. Y

6. A support and a towel container having its lower forward portionhinged thereto, said container havingabottom and walls and a chamberadapted to receive a bolt of toweling, the front wall of said containerforming the door of said holder, and having a suitable fastening means,said bolt resting by gravity upon the bottom of said container andhaving freedom of movement forward and backward therein to allow Vtheconvenient unwinding of the towel, said container having an openingthrough which the web of the towel is fed, and a space being provided inthe rear of said container wherein the web of clean towel depends and isfed by the pull of the user, the friction of the bolt on the bottom andwalls of the container retarding the unwinding of the bolt and checkingundue feed.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of July,1920.

FRANK M. STEINER.

